Drew Goddard

ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie/TV news items. From Marvel to DC and points in between, if it pertains to costumed comic book heroes, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, a potential title for the new Spider-Man movie may contain some story hints, new Fantastic Four information teases a weird change from the comics, and a potential update on the new Aquaman villain.

In just a few weeks, Joss Whedon and Marvel are unleashing Whedon’s biggest film yet, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Unfortunately, while the director prepares to celebrate the release of what will undoubtedly be the biggest superhero film of the year, Whedon and longtime colleague Drew Goddard have just been hit with a copyright lawsuit over their 2012 horror hit The Cabin in the Woods.

According to some reports (but not others), Sony has found the filmmaker to restart the Spider-Man franchise one more time, with The Sinister Six writer/director Drew Goddard swinging off of that project and onto a new Spider-Man franchise. But that still leaves the issue of who will play the new Peter Parker. Latino Review’s report on the Goddard rumor claimed they wanted a “new actor, probably an unknown” who’d start off in high school and grow with the part “a la Harry Potter.”

Last year, back when it still seemed possible that Sony may try to continue their Amazing Spider-Man reboot and before they teamed with Marvel to relaunch Spidey in a new film series that will connect with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ScreenCrush Editor-in-Chief Mike Sampson and I put together a list of ten directors we thought could save the Spider-Man franchise. One name we both immediately thought belonged on the list was Drew Goddard, the man who directed The Cabin in the Woods and was then slated to direct the Amazing 2 spinoff The Sinister Six.

After the news that Marvel and Sony had come to an agreement to co-produce a new series of ‘Spider-Man’ movies, while also introducing the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the items we immediately turned our attention to was Sony's planned ‘Sinister Six’ spinoff, which was deep into development and was teased all through last summer’s ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2.’ Director Drew Goddard (‘The Cabin in the Woods’) had been working on the film since last year (he even left Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’ series to focus on it) with a November 2016 release date planned. The future of that film seemed very tenuous this morning following the big announcement, but now comes news that the film is still in development at Sony.

With Comic-Con 2014 less than 24 hours away from its grand start, the internet is a flurry of missed flights and scheduling headaches and excitement and worry and Hall H line preparation and ... release dates? Yep, the studios are capitalizing on the Comic-Con excitement to announce the release dates of some very geek-friendly films and Sony took the chance to let everyone know when they'll be able to see 'The Amazing Spider-Man 3,' 'Sinister Six' and 'Uncharted.'

After Marvel's forthcoming Netflix 'Daredevil' series cast its biggest roles in Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock and Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin, we were a bit surprised to see Rosario Dawson's unknown character next in line for a big reveal. Now, our new Foggy Nelson has at last been found, courtesy of 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay' star Elden Henson!

In yet another shocking Marvel plot twist, their upcoming 'Daredevil' series has reportedly lost Drew Goddard. While it's not nearly as hard of a blow or as surprising as yesterday's news that director Edgar Wright has parted ways with the studio over differences on 'Ant-Man,' it's still enough to make this a bit of a one-two punch.

Sony has plans for two more 'Amazing Spider-Man' movies, as well as spin-offs for villains, including Spidey's greatest foes: the Sinister Six. And while they are the most villainous of the villains, the producers say we can expect a slightly different take on their story when it comes time for their tale to be told in the 'Sinister Six' film, which is being helmed by director Drew Goddard.